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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. squash — the sport
  3. chip — to eat
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. hand — in cards
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. file — a tool
  10. hand — help
  11. file — a line of people
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. field — for sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. chip — for betting
  19. wax — to grow
  20. field — a subject
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. file — a document
  24. field — farmland

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com